Justin McGuirk on design + Awards and prizes | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/series/justin-mcguirk-design+culture/awards-and-prizes
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Light is right at the Brit Insurance Design awards 2011 – reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/feb/17/brit-insurance-design-awards
Once, we thought small was the future. But the standout objects in this year's awards have all gone the way of weightlessness<p>The shortlist for Britain's top design award has just <a href="http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2011/brit-insurance-designs-of-the-year" title="gone on show at the Design Museum">gone on show at the Design Museum</a>. What ingenious or world-changing object will capture the zeitgeist this year, I asked myself as I strolled through. Last year I was one of the judges and we awarded the prize to a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/mar/17/folding-plug-design-awards" title="folding plug by an unknown student">folding plug by an unknown student</a>. It felt like a good decision. No famous designers, no grand narratives. It was a vote for the small and perfectly formed, for the overlooked, for the everyday.</p><p>The shortlist feels weaker this year, and I'm not saying that because I'm not on the panel. For one thing, there's less of the social and political engagement that has become the hallmark of the design of the year award. Previous years have seen it go to a laptop for children in the developing world and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_%22Hope%22_poster" title="the Obama Hope poster">the Obama "Hope" poster</a>. And while those may have been crowd-pleasers, there were entries last year forcing bankers to confront the cost of food in Bangladesh or highlighting inflation in Zimbabwe. This show falls back on the idea of design as refined objects – as stuff. On those terms, the question is which ones stand out in this land of plenty.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/feb/17/brit-insurance-design-awards">Continue reading...</a>DesignArchitectureArt and designiPadTechnologyAwards and prizesCultureThu, 17 Feb 2011 09:51:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/feb/17/brit-insurance-design-awardsPhotograph: Iwan BaanHeather-light ... Thomas Heatherwick's lauded design for the UK Pavilion at this year's Shanghai Expo. Photograph: Iwan BaanPhotograph: Iwan BaanHeather-light ... Thomas Heatherwick's lauded design for the UK Pavilion at this year's Shanghai Expo. Photograph: Iwan BaanJustin McGuirk2011-02-17T09:51:50ZWhy a folding plug won last night's design awards | Justin McGuirkhttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/mar/17/folding-plug-design-awards
How do you compare a social housing scheme and a fashion collection? As a judge of the Brit Insurance Design awards, I had to decide<p>Last night, Britain's most prestigious design prize was <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/mar/16/folding-plug-wins-design-prize">awarded to a plug</a>. At a ceremony at the Design Museum, the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year award was carried off by an unknown Korean who only graduated from the Royal College of Art last summer. Min-Kyu Choi was probably not the first person to notice the disparity between his Macbook Air laptop (thin enough to slide into a manila envelope) and the plug attached to it (so bulky you need a duffel bag). But he was certainly the first to sit down and redesign the plug so that it folds flat. This piece of electrical origami says all you need to know about the power of designers to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/mar/16/choi-folding-plug-design">transform our everyday world</a>.</p><p>The shortlist for the award included social housing in Mexico, an electric plane, some bamboo furniture and a fashion collection by the late <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/alexander-mcqueen">Alexander McQueen</a>. How on earth do you compare such things? In my case, the question wasn't merely rhetorical. "How on earth do you compare such things?" I asked my fellow judges at the Design Museum. As one of the seven-strong jury selected to pick the category winners and ultimately a grand prize winner, I had to come up with an answer.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/mar/17/folding-plug-design-awards">Continue reading...</a>DesignAwards and prizesArchitectureArt and designCultureTechnologyFashionWed, 17 Mar 2010 13:08:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/mar/17/folding-plug-design-awardsPhotograph: Design Museum/PABright spark ... Min-Kyu Choi's award-winning folding plug. Photograph: Design Museum/PAPhotograph: Design Museum/PABright spark ... Min-Kyu Choi's award-winning folding plug. Photograph: Design Museum/PAJustin McGuirk2010-03-17T13:08:36Z